Avoid funky, overdone, extreme overpopulation of code and information.
We are all guilty of this, no doubt about it. But if your page opens up a virtual window everytime someone mouseovers the main page, you have gone too far. You want your site to look nice, be easy to navigate and attractive enough to come back to. Thats all that matters. If in the process you write compliant code which follows standards then kudos go to you. But quit with the flash and javascript effects already. Thankfully, I have come across only a few sites which include flash in a blog, but that time is sure to come.
Code is a boon and a curse in many ways. The main purpose of a blog or a webpage is lost in the translation.
The original CodeProject webpages are good examples of excessive amounts of information cramped into a very small space. URI navigation was invented for just that purpose! Organize links, nest links in other pages and make navigation simpler to use. Every bit of useful information on your blog does not have to show up on the front page. I really do not want to point out any particular blogs but you know who you are (including me :-p). Organize, Organize, Organize. If the site is too busy, it is less usable, less friendly and certainly less fun to read. All of this is said in spite of my main blog, which is overpopulated at the moment.
Good examples of organization in a blog include Matt‘s Photomatt.net, Anil Dash‘s main blog, Ringnalda‘s blog and many many others.
